What Is Spiritual Warfare?

Spiritual warfare has been going on forever in the heavenly realms, between God and Satan, between good and evil, between the Kingdom of God and the kingdom of darkness. The battle has begun in you the moment you placed your trust in God and accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.

It is going on in you when you know you now live by the Spirit of God and by His Word and what have happened in the physical world are at odd or at war with the spiritual world you are now aware of. It is when you know that you are in the world but not of the world. I John 2:15-17 says, “Do not love the world or the things in the world. The love of the Father is not in those who love the world; for all that is in the world-the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, the pride in riches-comes not from the Father but from the world. And the world and its desire are passing away, but those who do the will of God live for ever.”

The world is not to be in you controlling, shaping, and forming you. Just as light cannot fellowship with darkness so you are. Indeed, spiritual warfare has begun in the heavens and played out here on earth. The two worlds may have influenced each other’s outcomes and results.

Ephesians 6:10-20 talks about spiritual warfare and the armors you and I need to put on in order to withstand the attacks of the enemies. “For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”

Satan, the liar, the accuser of the brethren, the one who comes to steal, kill and destroy, the crafty serpent, the dragon, together with the beasts, all the fallen angels, the demons, the evil unclean spirits and those who are used by them to serve their will and plans are of the kingdom of darkness.

As children of God, citizens of the Kingdom of God, a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, heirs of Christ, servants of God, you and I have a new nature when we are born again; when we have given our hearts to the Lord Jesus and trusted Him as Savior, Redeemer we are a new creation in Christ Jesus. Biblically, the old is gone, and the new has come, yet experientially, we are still living in this earthly vessel called the body, the flesh.

We still need the basic food, water and shelter. We still need the love, the care and comfort and security. Jesus said, “The spirit is indeed willing, but the flesh is weak.” (Matthew 26:42) We used to sin before coming to the Savior, but we are now washed, sanctified, justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God (I Corinthians 6:11).

Because we are redeemed for a purpose you and I have a new perspective, a God-perspective, a Spirit-filled life to live. Our mind is renewed, and our will yields to the Holy Spirit; we’ve chosen the narrow gate that leads to life instead of the wide one that leads to death. Our focus is now on God. We tune into God’s Word and obey His commands.

Everything that God has determined for us to have in Christ Jesus before the foundation of the world, we will have in the name of Jesus. The Holy Spirit lives in us. Christ Jesus lives in our hearts even though he is sitting at the right hand of the Father interceding for us.

Because of our new relationship with God, you and I no longer see things as we did before. We see them as God sees them through the Scripture, through the Holy Spirit’s prompting and guidance. The things that make Jesus’ heart sad will also be the things that make our hearts sad. The things He stands for will also be the stand that we will take. The truth that He abides, lives and dies for will also be the truth that we shall hold close to our heart and never would let go of even if it would cost us our lives. The life we live in the flesh today we live by the faith in the Son of God, who loved us and gave himself for us (Galatians 2:20).

The sins you and I may have committed before, now as a child of God, we will have a different feeling and attitude about it. We cannot continue to sin and pray that grace will abound. God forbids.

Whatever a man sows, he shall surely reap. Sooner or later everything will be revealed. Every wrong will be right. Nothing is hidden from God. We obey God’s Word now because we love God and we want to honor Jesus with our lives; we want to yield ourselves to the Holy Spirit so that the works of God will continue to complete what God has started first in our lives. We love the things God loves and hates the things God hates.

Indeed, everyday you and I are going through this spiritual struggle, and the spiritual warfare or battle rage on. Even the lawful thing may not be beneficial to us at all and we will not be dominated by anything (I Corinthians 6:12). Our Helper, the Holy Spirit empowers us to live a victorious life.

In Christ we are more than conquerors through Him who loves us. We can submit to God, resist the Devil and it shall flee from us. Knowing that the One who is in us is greater than the one outside in the world helps us put the fear away.

Because you and I are bought with a price we are no longer our own; therefore glorify God in our bodies (I Corinthians 6:19-20). See you at the front lines. March on. Christ is leading the way. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

Put on your armors. Be fully equipped in the Word.

Be filled with the Holy Spirit. Follow Him. Walk in God’s love and power to victory! Amen.

Pastor Linh